Two big announcements from the JBFA team today: we've selected our 2015 Lifetime Achievement and Humanitarian of the Year honorees.

Accomplished Chicago restaurateur Richard Melman will receive this year's Lifetime Achievement award. As founder and chairman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Melman oversees more than 100 restaurants nationwide, and has mentored countless chefs and culinary professionals. He is a highly admired leader within Chicago and across the country, with business practices and a personal philosophy that have served as invaluable models to others in the industry.

Food & Wine and Toklas Society have teamed up to produce #foodwinewomen, a series of spotlights on prominent women in food. The latest profile, posted on Friday, features none other than JBF president Susan Ungaro. Head over to foodandwine.com to read her optimistic views about females' status in the culinary industry. Ungaro also lists five high-achieving women who inspire her.

It's time for the final phase of America Cooks with Chefs, our healthy cooking competition in partnership with the Clinton Foundation. We've paired six ordinary Americans from across the country with JBF Award–winning chefs, who have equipped our contestants with nutritious recipes and valuable cooking tips for healthier lifestyles. You can watch videos of our first four participants and their respective chef trainers in action here. (Stay tuned for more videos next week!)

This weekend, at the Clinton Health Matters Annual Activation Summit, each contestant-and-chef duo will prepare their signature recipe for conference attendees and judges. On Monday, in front of a live audience, we'll announce the winning dish and present the grand prize to the victors.... Read more >

Awards season is in full swing, and the anticipation has us reminiscing about the many opulent galas in our past. One of the highlights from the 2009 Beard Awards reception was the eclectic mix of festive cocktails, and among our favorites was this delicious blackberry and whiskey concoction from Patricia Richards of the Wynn Las Vegas. The beauty of a smash, which dates all the way back to the late 1800s, is its versatility: it's refreshing in the summertime, and it's uplifting in the dead of winter; it's most often made with whiskey, but is equally delightful with gin, vodka, or rum; and any garnishes you have on hand (mint, citrus, fresh berries, or anything you favor) will only make it shine even more. This luscious, elegant rendition, however, might just win our vote. Get the recipe here.

Here's what's coming up at the James Beard House and around the country:

Monday, January 26, 7:00 P.M.The Butcher and The Chef
As a young apprentice butcher at Jefferson Market, Salvatore Petruso delivered meats to James Beard at the icon’s Greenwich Village townhouse. Now at the helm of Westwood Prime Meats, Petruso is teaming up with chef John Vitale of Tuscan-inspired Caffe Anello for an evening that will showcase some of Beard’s butcher-shop favorites.

Yesterday, January 21, 2015, marked the thirtieth anniversary of James Beard's death. In honor of the culinary icon, this TBT we’re sharing some of our favorite quotes, from a man who was as prolific with the pencil as he was with the spatula:

“There is absolutely no substitute for the best. Good food cannot be made of inferior ingredients masked with high flavor.” (The Fireside Cookbook, p. 13)

“Grilling, broiling, barbecuing—whatever you want to call it—is an art, not just a matter of building a pyre and throwing on a piece of meat as a sacrifice to the gods of the stomach.” (Beard on Food, p. 20)

“The roe of the Russian mother sturgeon has probably been present at more important international affairs than have all t... Read more >

WHAT? A member of the sunflower family, this unusual vegetable, native to North America, can grow to be ten feet tall. Sunchokes are also known as Jerusalem artichokes, although they've got nothing to do with the Holy Land and they certainly aren't artichokes. The origins of its etymology are as varied and gnarled as this tuber’s skin. Some suspect that the Italian word for sunflower, girasole, tumbled through a game of telephone to become Jerusalem. A marketing scheme took this confusing nomenclature, combined it with the bulbs’ light artichokey flavor, and the “Jerusalem artichoke” was born. But the eccentric titles don’t end there: the sunchoke has also been nicknamed the “fartichoke.” Julia Child once said, “I just love those Jersualem artichokes. But is there anything you can do about the flatulence?” The sunchoke’s high starch content is the culprit (and also a natural remedy for diabetics).

Thankfully, these monikers have been eclipsed by this vegetable’s versatility. Sunchokes can be eaten raw, cooked like potatoes, or... Read more >